Author notes/warning: some suicidal thoughts and actions through-out. Also I ship Cody-Wan and Kalluzeb, awright?

CC 2224 tried to stick to patrolling corridors that were out of the way and unfrequented by others. He had the seniority to choose that. He also has no desire to see the numbskulls he's been forced to train, bumbling and bragging, as if they had any right to claim they were superior to him and his brothers. It was bad enough that every time he had gotten himself somewhere remote and was about to try and find a way to contact the Rebellion, General Skywalker (CC 2224 would never think of him as Vader, that gave the fallen jedi a coward's way out) pulled him to whatever nightmare the Empire had cooked up. Because, like as not, General Skywalker was an ass who wanted a living security blanket nearby no matter how high and mighty he claimed he was, never mind that CC 2224, once his mind had cleared, once it had become his own again and he had the thrice-damned chip taken out, once he was Cody again, would have gladly chucked them both back into the lava if he were able to.

Of course, Skywalker was also punishing him for not killing General Kenobi. CC 2224 was a good asset to the Empire. Good assets shouldn't be allowed to wither away too soon. So Skywalker had had CC 2224's aging slowed to what passed for normal human standard. He had had to watch his brothers, the shinies, the cadets grow old before their time, and all the while they looked at him with hurt eyes not quite understanding why he was being spared. And he had to teach the arrogant dismissive natural borns to be soldiers. CC 2224 had thought that was worst hell he could ever know.

But the Death Star took the proverbial biscuit.

CC 2224 had watched in horror over Scarif as the battle station boiled way part of the planet. He had to discreetly flee the bridge when Alderaan shattered; he'd learned very young vomiting in one's helmet was never a good thing.

Now he found himself in one of the darker alcove of the corridor, and let himself lean with his forehead against the wall. This was intolerable. This was impossible. Cody had kept himself going because he had foolishly deluded himself that somehow, some way, he could help the first small pockets of resistance to the Empire and later that he could escape to the Rebellion. The Death Star killed that delusion.

He had come up with one fragile terminal option: he wondered if he could carry enough explosives in a suicidal dive into the power core. And if it would make any difference in the end anyway.

He almost didn't hear the careful, stealthy footsteps. Cody derisively doubted any of the natural-borns would have even noticed them. Still, whether he liked it or not, Cody was a soldier, a good soldier, and good soldiers followed orders even if they'd rather eat their blasters. Besides he didn't need anyone else finding his little space of quiet. He took a deep breath and stepped into the main body of the corridor his blaster raised. His legs almost gave out from under him.

It had been years, but Cody still knew a Jedi when he saw one.

And this one ignited their lightsaber immediately.

A sense of relief washed over Cody, and he allowed himself to sink to his knees. Unlatched and removed his helmet with one hand. He closed his eyes and held his head up high to offer his neck.

"Please, sir, please."

There was a hesitation, an intake of breath, and he heard the 'saber turned off.

Cody had felt despair before, but this hit him like a ton of duracrete.

Then there were two hands on his arms and he was being pulled to his feet.

"No more of that, Commander," an aged but familiar voice gently chuckled, "we have to get off this battle station."

Cody's eyes open from the shock he felt, and he looked into the Jedi's face. General Kenobi had grown older, rather more harshly than he should have, but it was his General. Cody dropped his helmet.

A broken "Sir" was all Cody could manage, before he was trailing after General Kenobi. After that it was a bit of a blur interspersed with a few razor sharp images the next few hours.

The strongest of which was that General Skywalker apparently forgot that armor, no matter how good, really didn't do much good if someone shoved a blaster point blank into it and kept firing until the energy magazine was empty. Cody's told later that he was screaming obscenities the entire time.

Cody remembers ordering the smuggler to not go directly to the Rebel base, but gave him coordinates to several systems where they could check for and dump any tracking devices before they finally head for the Rebel base, and apparently because humoring the very excitable defecting stormtrooper is a time-honored tradition his orders were followed.

But Cody's favorite memory was finally sitting/falling asleep beside his General. He could answer questions later.